Sarvesh Sangarya

Thursday, 10 March 2016

National Championships - Race Report

Ever since the 2014 National Cycling Championships ended, my sole goal had been to win the National Championships in the Under-23 age category.

Following a successful recovery from a broken collarbone in early January, I had 9 weeks to get back in shape for the championships which were scheduled to be held between 24th and 27th February, 2016.
For those 9 weeks, I lived like a monk - I slept early, woke up early, ate almost no junk food and logged in all but one training ride. But the 6 weeks of inactivity prior, had taken it's toll and I was heading into the championships with my Functional Threshold Power (FTP) 20-25 Watts lower than before I had crashed, i.e., a 9.3% decrease in fitness. That might come off as too punctilious, but at the end of the day, Numbers don't lie.

'Tis true!

On the 24th of February, I lined up a the start of the U23 Time Trial, the distance of which was increased overnight to 40 kilometres from the initial 30 kilometres. I finished 7th, over 2.5minutes behind the winner. Looking back later on, I recognized 3 opportunites for improvements -
1) Weight. While training up to the event, I ignored my weight and went into the race weighing in 55 kilos. In hindsight, if I had maintained 59, I could've saved 1.25-1.5minutes.
2) Equipment. The course was highly rolling in terrain with several high-speed descents included. Having a 54T or 55T chainring could've gained me 10-15seconds.
3) Pacing. At about the 27 kilometre mark, I got distracted by a "carrot" up front and botched my pacing strategy. I had to burn the next 2-3kms o regain my rhythm. But at the finish line, my tank was empty, so I finished with the satisfaction that I had given it a 100% percent.

Strava file - https://www.strava.com/activities/501243044

Me. At the end of the Time-Trial.

I was excited, nervous and desperate going into the 81.5kms road race the nextmorningnext afternoonthe morning two days later afternoon two days later. In the 60-odd strong field, I knew that nobody saw me as a serious contender for the win, which is when I tend to bring out my best.

The race distance was reduced from 6 to 4 laps of the 20.38km circuit. With the race starting at the sweltering hot time of the day at 3:30PM, there were several riders who had lost the race at the start line when faced with the (relatively) extreme weather conditions and the difficulty of the course. I was silently grinning at the prospect of a race of attrition, which too tends to bring out my best.

As soon as the gun went off, the larger teams - Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu surged to the front to set a high tempo. I was the sole representative from Chandigarh and when I ride alone, I tend to ride more aggressively than otherwise. Aggressive, but never reckless. Over the next 10 kilometres, I did not make many friends in the bunch, but I did mange to conserve a lot of energy by staying in the top 5-7 positions.

By the 25kilometre mark, the main field was strung out to less than 15 riders with 5 of those riders from Karnataka alone! At the 27kilometre mark, a rider from Karnataka and Mahrashtra each attacked on a false flat section and gained a narrow advantage of 4-5 seconds. The bunch seemed to slow down as none of the teams were willing to chase. I went to the front and slowly pulled them back maintaning a steady effort. I bridged the gap about 500 metres from the roundabout and positioned myself in the fourth wheel all set to take the rounadbout easil-

*CLUNK*

*BANG*

*PSSsssssssssssss..*

Sheise! PUNCTURE! WHAAAAATT!! ARRRRRRRGGGHHH..!!NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

My front wheel hit a stone which was enough to cause a pinch-flat.

The peloton surged ahead. There goes my chance of winning..

I took the roundabout and rode for a 100metres with a flat and managed to stop the neutral service motorbike which had a front and rear wheel."Sir! I need a front wheel quickly!"

"Yeh tumhare liye nahin hain" (This is not for you)

"Sir PLEASE, I have NO support team! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

*Motorcyle accelerates away*

Where's Clarkey when you need him?!

Behind the convoy of the race officials and "neutral" service vehicles, a van with an open top had all the teams' mechanics and a couple of spare wheels each. After a bit of screaming and pleading, the mechanic from the Karnataka team showed mercy and gave me a spare front wheel.

By this point, I had lost more than 2 minutes over the bunch. I hesitantly asked the mechanics' vehicle for a sticky bottle back to the bunch. They hesitantly denied.

I rode the next 10 kilometres like a man possessed. With the narrow twisting road in dense foliage, there was no way to tell the gap between me and the bunch until we hit the next roundabout at the 40 kilometre mark.

At the 40 kilometre mark, the gap was down to 45 seconds! On the succeeding 2.5 kilometre, climb I just about made contact when attacks began to fly off the front. I was yet to recover from my earlier exertion when the gap again increased to over a minute.

I did not know if I could ever catch up the main bunch in the second half, but I was certain that the weather and terrain would take their toll on some of the riders. I began to pace myself - Tempo on the descents, Sub threshold on the flats and into threshold and above on the ascents, while at the same time focusing on my hydration and pedaling technique with the hopes of catching up to the dejected souls and hoping for a top 10 finish.

Next roundabout - 50 kilometre mark : 1min 25seconds

"Has anybody dropped back yet? Jeez, this is going to be one solitary 30 kilometre ride."

I thought a lot about Paul Sherwen's 1985 Tour de France ride when I was alone!

60 kilometre mark : 1min 20seconds

"How awesome of a story would I have if I actually caught up with the bunch!"

At the 65 kilometre mark, when I glanced up the road, I could not believe what I laid my eyes upon - The mechanics' van!Noway! No serious way! Is that the lead bunch up there?NO WAY! Holy sh-moly I've caught up with them! I'm almost back!
I shifted down a couple of gears and began chasing hard back to the bunch. At the 69 kilometre roundabout, I caught up with the mechanics' van and passed them. All the mechanics began yelling at the top of their voices cheering me to go faster!

"WATER!" I yelled back. I was running on fumes at this stage.
I poured the entire litre onto the back of my neck. The relief was beyond belief.

I accelerated till my lungs were filled with lactic acid and finally caught up with the 15 man strong lead bunch.

"Whoooaaa! We've made it back into the race! My systems indicate extremely low fuel but I can still pull off a wi-"

At this page in the race, I unintentionally got into an interesting conversation with a CFI (Cycling Federaion of India) official who will henceforth be referred to as Mr. X.Mr. X: "HEEEEEYYYYYYY! YOU GET OUT OF THE BUNCH!! GET OUT OF THE BUNCH"

Me: "Sir, no sir..I have done 3 laps..This is my 4th lap.."Mr. X: "GET OUT OF THE BUNCH!! GET OUT OF THE BUNCH! YOU HAVE TAKEN SHORTCUT!"
Me: "I HAVE NOT CHEATED!! Ask the mechanics, they will tell you I have not chea-:

Mr. X: "I WILL NOT ASK ANYBODY!! I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU RIDE THE THIRD LAP! GET OUT OF THE BUNCH! IF YOU DON'T, I WILL DISQUALIFY YOU, B*@#$&D!!"

Me: "I HAVE NOT CHEATED! I HAVE NOT CHEATED! I HAVE NOT CHEATED!"
Note: all this happened in the race. Above 40kmph.
In hindsight, this is where I lost the race. I got overwhelmed by what was happening and allowed unwanted emotions to take over.

Mr. X: "IF YOU DON'T GET OUT NOW, I WILL BAN YOU FOR 6 MONTHS!"

Then, the chief commissaire (CC) pulled up alongside to have a chat.CC: "Listen to me, I'm the Chief Commissair-"

Me: "YOU'RE A FAT FART, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!!"I'm just kidding, I would never say that...out loud.

CC: "Listen to me, I'm the Chief Commissaire. I have not seen you riding the previous lap. If you don't pull out now, we will ban you for 1 year!!"

Me: "OKAY"
Before Mr. X could pitch in again, I noticed that there was a small uphill coming along. I shifted down a couple of gears and attacked the bunch. My stomach cringed due to the lack of nutrition but when I looked back, the sight of the disappearing peloton provided the last bit of energy needed to keep cranking down the pedals.

Final Roundabout - 80 kilometre : -10seconds

The final 1.5 kilometres were uphill with a gradient of 6%. With the gap not increasing and my hunger not decreasing, I was on the verge of panicking, when, with 600 metres to go, Mr. Y wanted to have a word with me.

Mr. Y: "LISTEN! YOU HAVE TO DO 2 MORE LAPS OR YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED. OKAY?"

Me: *Death stare"

I panicked.

I glanced back more than I looked ahead. Classic mistake. I bonked hard with 300metres to go.

The bunch caught up with 250 metres to go and began their sprint. I could not.

Dejectedly, I crossed the line in the 13th place. Less than 5 seconds behind the winner.

Birdies were about to be flipped and curses were about to be passed along in the direction of the official commissaire's office, which was right next to the start/finish line, but I managed to ride past a few hundred metres.......and then flipped birdies and shared information on what kind of manure they ought to be consuming.

Half an hour later, I met up with Mr. X, and convinced him to take a look at my GPS data before penalizing me.
The next day, I met up with him and he agreed to not penalize me if I apologized to Mr. Z. who happens to head the CFI, for my "unacceptable" tone of interaction with the chief commissaire while in the race. Do I have any other choice?

Strave file - https://www.strava.com/activities/502717070

4 roundabouts = 4 laps - In your face, CFI

So, I walked away from the national championships feeling angry, disappointed and powerless. Rather than feeling dejected, I've decided to focus on what I can control - Training and choosing the flight meal when I return to race in Europe this July! Definitely avoiding the pastas!